Search - Romualdo Marenco, Silvano Frontalini, Orchestra Filarmonica di Volgograd :: Romualdo Marenco: Teodora (Highlights)

Pleasant but not very original music

G.D. | Norway | 01/15/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Romualdo Marenco (1841-1907) is hardly a household name. In addition to operas and orchestral works, he wrote several ballet scores, and it is the excerpts from one of these, Teodora, which is represented here. Stylistically, his contemporaries Drigo and Minkus are brought to mind, and in my view Marenco isn't outshone by either. This atmospheric score is, as expected, filled with nice easy-on-the-ear melodies and lots of orchestral color (it would have been interesting to view a staging as well, with all the luxuriously extravagant outfits and sets required). It is not a masterpiece, by no means, but is certainly pleasantly enjoyable (and though I haven't heard the complete work I think this selection will be enough for most people).



The Volgograd Philharmonic Orchestra may not be a world-class ensemble, but the performances are more than serviceable and Frontalini manages to bring out both details and color. The recording is cavernously reverberant and far from perfectly balanced, but better than on some other Bongiovanni releases of romantic Italian orchestral music. A worthwhile though hardly earth-shattering release."